Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will tie Tito Ortiz’s record for most fights for the promotion in Brisbane, Australia tonight (Saturday March 19, 2016). He takes on fellow legend of the sport Mark Hunt in the UFC Fight Night 85 main event, in a bout that will prove telling as to where either man’s
Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will tie Tito Ortiz’s record for most fights for the promotion in Brisbane, Australia tonight (Saturday March 19, 2016). He takes on fellow legend of the sport Mark Hunt in the UFC Fight Night 85 main event, in a bout that will prove telling as to where either man’s career will be headed at this twilight stage. It will be Mir’s 27th fight in 15 years, having fought outside the Zuffa banner only twice during that time (his first two fights).
It was a different world when Mir took up professional fighting in 2001, as the Japanese MMA scene was flourishing, and the UFC hadn’t wuite found it’s feet yet. Pride FC was where all the best talent was, and among those superstars, heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko shined the brightest.
For years fans pondered and salivated the prospect of Emelianenko testing his mettle against the UFC elite, but it never came to be. ‘The Last Emperor’ tested the American waters with a brief stint in Scott Coker’s Strikeforce, but went 1-3 after getting finished by Antonio Silva, Dan Henderson and current UFC heavyweight champ Fabricio Werdum. A few meaningless fights overseas preceded Emelianenko’s eventual retirement, albeit a temporary sit, as he returned on New Year’s eve last year to defeat the poorest calibre tomato can possible in Jaideep Singh.
Talking with MMAJunkie.com, Mir says that Fedor’s losses, especially to ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, showed how he would’ve got on in the UFC:
There’s nothing funny about the ‘Injury Curse‘ that’s been pillaging the UFC 149 card of talent, and for once our piss-poor writing isn’t to blame. Last night Sherdog.com broke the news (and what was left of our hearts) that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has not fully recovered from the broken arm he suffered courtesy of a Frank Mir kimura back at UFC 140.
Some might say it was wishful thinking when we prematurely celebrated how quickly “Minotauro” was healing; others might say it was a slow news day and that a short video helped fill the void. Either way, Dr. Frankenstein is running low on corpses and won’t be able to swap out Big Nog’s arm in time for his July 21st duel with the rule breaking hard hitting Cheick Kongo.
Details on Kongo’s opponent and how this card stacks up in the ‘Injury Card Hall Of Fame’ after the jump.
There’s nothing funny about the ‘Injury Curse‘ that’s been pillaging the UFC 149 card of talent, and for once our piss-poor writing isn’t to blame. Last night Sherdog.com broke the news (and what was left of our hearts) that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has not fully recovered from the broken arm he suffered courtesy of a Frank Mir kimura back at UFC 140.
Some might say it was wishful thinking when we prematurely celebrated how quickly “Minotauro” was healing; others might say it was a slow news day and that a short video helped fill the void. Either way, Dr. Frankenstein is running low on corpses and won’t be able to swap out Big Nog’s arm in time for his July 21st duel with the rule breaking hard hitting Cheick Kongo.
In his stead the UFC is gloving-up Shawn Jordan. The former LSU fullback has won his last two bouts under the Zuffa banner; Jordan submitted Lavar Johnson in Strikeforce with the keylock that eluded Pat Barry and scored a second round TKO over Oli Thompson at “UFC on FX 2”.
It’s been an eventful week to say the least. Strikeforce Heavyweights are all but done, Overeem went before the NSAC, and Jon Jones choked Machida out cold. Too bad you didn’t ask us any questions about those things. That would have been cool. You did manage to pull some decent questions out of your asses, however, and we’ll take a few moments to address them now.
EnemyofRealityasks: Dear, dear, Dear, DEAR Cage Potato. How I look forward to your wise words. Do tell me, what would your top 3 list of MMA refs look like?
It would like a lot like any other list, EnemyofReality, only it would have referee names instead of groceries, chores, and people to kill.
We actually covered this subject a couple of years ago, but times change and you’re asking now, so here we go. There are a lot of refs to choose from, but not necessarily a lot of great refs to choose from. If we were climbing into the cage—and we’re starting to warm up to the idea–we’d like to have Herb Dean, Big John McCarthy, or Josh Rosenthal in there to save our ass.
It’s been an eventful week to say the least. Strikeforce Heavyweights are all but done, Overeem went before the NSAC, and Jon Joneschoked Machida out cold. Too bad you didn’t ask us any questions about those things. That would have been cool. You did manage to pull some decent questions out of your asses, however, and we’ll take a few moments to address them now.
EnemyofRealityasks: Dear, dear, Dear, DEAR Cage Potato. How I look forward to your wise words. Do tell me, what would your top 3 list of MMA refs look like?
It would like a lot like any other list, EnemyofReality, only it would have referee names instead of groceries, chores, and people to kill.
We actually covered this subject a couple of years ago, but times change and you’re asking now, so here we go. There are a lot of refs to choose from, but not necessarily a lot of great refs to choose from. If we were climbing into the cage—and we’re starting to warm up to the idea–we’d like to have Herb Dean, Big John McCarthy, or Josh Rosenthal in there to save our ass.
“Nothing to lose” seems to be the popular consensus from our readers. True, we’re still in the dog house with the UFC from the last incident, so from that perspective we wouldn’t be risking much. But we wouldn’t want to jeopardize our good relationship with CagePotato’s reigning “Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix” champion. Not buying it? Well, we also gave our lawyers the next few months off to celebrate and recover from their hard fought victory, and you know what they say: never leave it in the hands of the judges. It shouldn’t really matter; you only read it for the articles anyway.
@nannerbs Brennan Valenzuela asks: Is it still possible to get the “Chocolate Al’ Shirt?
Nearly 500 people purchased CagePotato’s “Chocolate Al” shirts in the week following their launch. If you were lucky enough to snag one, we have good news: not only will you be sporting an uber-stylish, limited edition piece of MMA folklore on New Year’s Eve, you also helped save the life of Dan Miller’s son. If you missed the boat, you’ll have the rest of your life to regret it. Do yourself a favor and grab one of our exclusive “MMA Hairstyles” shirts while you still have a chance.
@matt_simpson84 Matt Simpson asks: Premature to say Big Nog is done, no? Was destroying Mir on feet. Got caught by BJJ black belt and nearly escaped.
Premature to say that Big Nog is done? Whaaaaaat?????????
Big Nog is thirty five years old, has a history of taking vicious beatings, underwent dual-hip surgery last year, and just got his shoulder destroyed by Frank Mir. Sure, he could take freak show fights in Japan or be used as a gatekeeper in the UFC when he returns from his injury. But do we really want to remember the PRIDE legend for an unspectacular run in the Octagon? He’s had a great career, and we’re fine letting it end with the tough as nails Brazilian refusing to tap.
That’s all for now, folks. Tune in next week as we answer even more of your (hopefully at least kind of) MMA related questions. You know the drill: You can send us questions through our Facebook page. You can tweet them to our Twitter account, as well as hashtag questions with #AskThePotato. You can register for our forums and post your questions there. Or you can just post them in the comments section of this article. And we still check that Google+ page we set up. Not that we want questions from that thing, we just feel like bragging.
Alistair Overeem is an artful dodger at urine testing, receives Conditional License from NSAC. Dan Henderson may get title-shot over Phil Davis if Davis beats Rashad Evans. Big Nog may not require surgery after Kimura.
Alistair Overeem is an artful dodger at urine testing, receives Conditional License from NSAC.
Dan Hendersonmay get title-shot over Phil Davis if Davis beats Rashad Evans.
Big Nogmay not require surgery after Kimura arm break by Frank Mir at UFC 140.
Fedor Emelianenko to fight Satoshi Ishii in DREAM on NYE in Japan.
Ian McCall will face Demetrious Johnson in first round of UFC Flyweight Tournament.
TUF 14: Bisping vs. Millermakes $453, 000 at the gate with 1909 in attendance.
Get your UFC Japan tickets on sale now for February 26th event.
(The only less popular piece of gold in MMA is Kimbo’s licensed signature fist necklace.)
Considering that every one of the six men who has worn it since this day three years ago has fallen to illness or injury, the UFC heavyweight belt could soon become the least desired trophy in sports.
The latest victim of the ill-fated gilded strap is Junior dos Santos, who went into his UFC on Fox heavyweight title bout with Cain Velasquez with a torn meniscus which will probably require surgery and an extended recovery time, making his first title defense unlikely until the second half of 2012. Somebody needs to bring the belt to a priest and have him perform an exorcism on it. Otherwise, we may only see one heavyweight title bout per year.
Check out the breakdown of the unlucky timeline of the cursed hunk of leather and gold after the jump.
(The only less popular piece of gold in MMA is Kimbo’s licensed signature fist necklace.)
Considering that every one of the six men who has worn it since this day three years ago has fallen to illness or injury, the UFC heavyweight belt could soon become the least desired trophy in sports.
The latest victim of the ill-fated gilded strap is Junior dos Santos, who went into his UFC on Fox heavyweight title bout with Cain Velasquez with a torn meniscus which will probably require surgery and an extended recovery time, making his first title defense unlikely until the second half of 2012. Somebody needs to bring the belt to a priest and have him perform an exorcism on it. Otherwise, we may only see one heavyweight title bout per year.
Here’s the breakdown of the unlucky timeline of the cursed hunk of leather and gold for those of you who aren’t buying what we’re selling:
• Brock Lesnar beat Randy Couture at UFC 91 on November 15, 2008 via second-round TKO and was to defend his belt against recently-crowned interim champ Frank Mir at UFC 98, but the fight had to be pushed to UFC 100 after Mir suffered a knee injury in training.
• Mir won the interim belt from former title holder Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 92 in December 2008 and it was later revealed that “Big Nog” fought with a severe staph infection.
• Minotauro has since pulled out of a UFC 108 bout against Cain Velasquez due to another bout of staph and a Mir rematch at UFC 119 because he underwent double knee surgery.
• Shortly after successfully defending his strap for the first time against Mir in July 2009, Lesnar was diagnosed with diverticulitis and was put on the DL for nearly a year.
• Shane Carwin took the vacant interim title against Mir in March 2010 at UFC 111 and has been sidelined with a back injury since his UFC 131 decision loss to Junior dos Santos.
• Cain Velasquez made short work of Lesnar in Brock’s third title defense in his two-year championship reign at UFC 121 in October 2010 and was unable to defend his title for 13 months.
• Junior dos Santos spoiled Velasquez’s first title defense in just over one minute. Following the bout he revealed that he fought with a torn meniscus and will likely require surgery, likely forcing him out of action for anywhere between five to eight months.
*Source: MMA Mania Early betting lines are out for UFC 140‘s Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira II and Mir is the odds on favorite at a whopping (-255), while “Big Nog” is set at.
Early betting lines are out for UFC 140‘s Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira II and Mir is the odds on favorite at a whopping (-255), while “Big Nog” is set at (+205). That’s a good value to lay cash down on Nog in these early betting stages, but should he be the underdog?
Nog has just enjoyed the biggest coup of his career by knocking out the much younger much more odds on favorite, Brendan Schaub in the first round of his hometown UFC Rio co-main event. Yes, Nog did lose to Mir in their first match up at UFC 92 in December of 08, but Nog had suffered a staph infection days before which hospitalized him for 5 days and he incurred a knee injury during that very training camp, which required surgery a few months later.
Frank Mir delivered a second round knock out to Big Nog in that UFC 92 fight, which was the first ever KO loss of Nog’s career, but since then Mir has been plagued with a mix of losses and *”lackluster” (*Dana White‘s word) wins.
Both fighters deserve a tremendous amount of respect for where their careers stand at their mature ages in the fight game so perhaps, the betting field should be a little more even going into this one. Regardless, those who feel there is a definite resurgence in Nog’s game and it wasn’t just a hometown-inspired-fluke-victory over Schaub, should take advantage of the big underdog value in Big Nog now.
